


Finding You Wherever You Are

by godtiercomplexfics (godtiercomplex)



Series: AmeChuWeek 2016 [3]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, AmeChuWeek2016, Blood Drinking, M/M, Reincarnation, reposting cuz ao3 won't fix the first one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2019-01-01 05:40:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12149802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/godtiercomplex/pseuds/godtiercomplexfics
Summary: While on a journey to find his future mate, Alfred gets caught in a conflict between rivaling gangs. Could what he's been looking for be in this city…?Reposted cuz Ao3 hates me.





	Finding You Wherever You Are

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blackvelvetopia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackvelvetopia/gifts).



> I woke up this morning bound and determined to write Day 4 & 5 of AmeChuWeek. I then watched as my WC rose from 1K to 3K to 5K with no end in sight. I think I wrote this in like...ten hours? I want to die? 
> 
> I blame Izzy for drawing [ this](http://the-crimson-scourge.tumblr.com/post/147722381871/) and some other things. 
> 
> Please enjoy. 
> 
> Day 4: Fairytale / Monsters+Creatures
> 
> 9/20/2017: 
> 
> I hate Ao3 and it won't let me unlock the other version so I'm reposting this!

Alfred’s bike broke down just before he got into the next city. Humans and monsters alike looked at him with pitying stares as he crouched next to the red machine and tried to fix it on his own. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that he would need more than the little tool set he stored in the bike’s side pockets to repair it.

“Well, shit,” he said, and then lit up a cigarette as he leaned against his bike and considered what he could do. No one passing by was even looking at him now, and he wondered at that even as his ears twitched above his head. Whereas before they had been looking at him with pity, now they were outright ignoring him as if to forget his very existence. It was weird. Alfred wasn’t used to be ignored.

A loud cry of “Oi,” was all the warning he got before something hit him in the back of his head. He turned around as his cigarette fell to the ground and looked at the person who had hit him. Short white hair, red eyes, it was obviously a ghoul. He always hated dealing with ghouls. “Don’t you see the _no loitering_ sign? You’re scaring away business. Move.”

Alfred cracked his knuckles, and then touched the back of his head. It came away red when he stared down at his fingers. “No matter how you look at it, you just aimed for my head right then, right? You just tried to kill me, right?” He glanced at his bike, and then at the shop he had apparently been standing in front of. Some old lady was looking terrified between him and his attacker.

“As if that’d be enough to kill you,” the other man dismissed his complaints. “Fucking dogs are harder to kill than anything.”

“Wanna run that by me again?” Alfred cracked his neck and then jumped over his bike, tail high as he stared at the man. His head hurt, he’d been forced to wipe blood on his traveling jeans, and his bike was broken. This wasn’t a good day.

The other man held his ground, scowling at Alfred, “Fucking dog—”

Alfred punched him. The man’s head whipped to the side, and then he grinned, a battle crazy gleam coming to his eyes. His leg kicked out and he almost would have knocked Al off balance if he hadn’t jumped back. Alfred’s blue eyes were bright as he ran back up to the man, and their fight continued until the tell-a-tale noise of police approaching filled the air.

“Shit,” the ghoul said. He glanced around him at the damage they had done in their fight and hit his own forehead, “ _SHIT!”_

Alfred wiped at his mouth, and wasn’t surprised that one of his teeth had bitten through his bottom lip, reopening an old wound. He lapped at the blood as he kept his eyes on his enemy to see what he’d do next.

“Sorry about this, ma’am,” the ghoul grumbled. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Ah…” the old lady peered at them from behind the tattered remains of her storefront displays and sighed. “I wish he had sent Sadik… not that I don’t appreciate your… help… Gilbert.”

The man, Gilbert, puffed out his chest, and then nodded at Alfred. “You should get out of here.”

“You’re telling me to run?” _You’re helping me out?_

“I guess I am, stupid. Now if your mutt brain can’t comprehend that I understand—”

“Wanna run that by me again?” Alfred growled out, fingers curling into fists once more.

Gilbert took up a fighting stance, and then relaxed. “Pick up your bike like a good boy and scram.”

Alfred wasn’t an idiot so he took Gilbert’s words to heart. He picked up his bike and rested it on one shoulder and glared at the other man. “If I see you again—”

“Hopefully, we never have reason to meet again. Just stay outta trouble and we won’t.”

“You’re the one that picked a fight with me!”

“You were scaring away this old lady’s clients!”

The police sirens sounded even closer as they glared at one another. Gilbert sighed, and ran a hand through his white hair.

“Go,” he said like an officer ordering about a new recruit. Alfred growled, and then went.

* * *

 

Escaping from the police wasn’t anything new, but Alfred rarely had someone that loaned him a hand in doing so. He was thinking back on Gilbert’s actions when he ducked into an alleyway and ran into a scene straight out of a comic.

Three men were crowding one tall man who was holding up his hands in a “Now, now,” kind of gesture.

“You’re the one, right? Took out my men, ehhh?” said the leader of the trio as Alfred watched.

“You’re going to have be more specific about that?” The tall man looked confused and shrugged. “I take out a lotttttt of men. You understand how it is!” His voice sounded way too gentle to match the dangerous words he was saying. He glanced up, and his eyes met Alfred’s for a moment before he turned his attention back to the trio in front of him who had their backs to Alfred.

“You bastard!” The leader said, but he wasn’t making a move to hit the tall man which was odd.

“Ah, I guess I must be!” The tall man was smiling, and then he took a step backwards reaching into his jeans pocket. He pulled out his phone and glanced at it. “Sorry, the boss is calling so we can’t continue this chat anymore. If you’ll excuse me?” He stepped towards the men, and they took a step back before falling to either side so he could pass through them. He answered the phone as he passed by Alfred, “Ivan speaking!” and then went past him.

Alfred stared at the three men as they noticed him, and then shook his head. They didn’t approach him, eyes on the bike on his shoulder, and he carried on looking for an auto shop. There had to be one around here somewhere, right?

He couldn’t help but think as he looked for one that this city was filled with dangerous people. It almost got him excited, but then he felt the weight of his bike on his shoulder and started to pout. This was going to be expensive to fix, wasn’t it?

* * *

 

He eventually found a repair shop. The ghoul working there introduced himself as Ludwig, and then after an examination of his bike told Alfred he would have to order replacement parts.

“And how long will that take?” Alfred asked. His tail had been wagging happily when Ludwig said he could fix it, but now it was falling and hanging low.

“Maybe two weeks? I can order them express for more money but… considering their weight that’d be super expensive…” Ludwig sounded more pained than Alfred felt at the thought.

“And how long would that take…?”

“About a week. Did you have somewhere you needed to be?”

Alfred shook his head. “Not really. Two weeks, huh?” He thought about his bank account, and how this would result in him having to call home. The thought scared him so he shook that off. “...shit, that means I’d have to find someplace to stay…”

“Um, my… friend runs a bed and breakfast near the river. I’m sure he has room.”

Alfred perked up instantly. “That’s great!”

“Um… yeah,” Ludwig said. “I should probably war—”

“That’s so great!” Alfred said, not realizing he had cut off Ludwig. The ghoul sighed and shrugged and said. “I’ll just call and ask them then?”

Alfred nodded eagerly.

* * *

 

The owner of the bed and breakfast turned out to be a brother duo who happened to be incubi.

“Ah, but we don’t touch our residents!” the younger brother, Feliciano, said with a wide grin.

The older one just glared at his brother and shoved over Alfred’s room key and some other paperwork and frowned out the breakfast hours. Alfred wasn’t sure how he did it, but he did.

“Don’t cause any trouble,” Lovino muttered when he headed towards the steps.

“I won’t!” Alfred smiled at him and said.

In his room, his smile slipped and he tossed his bag to one corner of the room while he collapsed on the bed.

“Ugh…” He muttered, and then pulled out his cell phone. The lockscreen was what it always was. His family a few years before he had left. His baby sister had to have grown up now, right? She had been ten when he left, so now she had to be like sixteen. “She must be beating off the boys with sticks.” He unlocked his phone, and then brought up his saved contacts. Who would be easier to talk with…? Undoubtedly it would be his twin brother, but then that might develop into a conversation about _feelings_ of all things. So, he called up his step-father.

“Well, this is a surprise,” Arthur picked up on the fourth ring. Alfred did the math, and sighed.

“Sorry, did I wake you up?” It was the evening here on this side of the continent, but it was fairly early over on the western side where his original home was.

“No, it’s all right. To what do I owe this pleasure, Alfred?”

Alfred groaned, and then related his day's experiences to that waiting ear.

“I understand,” Arthur sounded way too pleasant. “I’ll transfer the funds over to your account shortly.”

Alfred did not trust that voice. All his wolf instincts were screaming out at him not to trust that voice.

“I sense… a ‘but’ in there somewhere…”

“You’ll have to talk to your father before I do.”

“What? No fair!”

“It’s his money, Alfred.”

Alfred growled, and Arthur laughed in his ear. “It’ll be okay, pup. He’s not going to bite.” Alfred sighed. “Fine. Put him on then.”

“Mhm,” Arthur said and then there was a shuffling, and he heard his father’s voice for the first time in a few months.

“Ah, the prodigal son returns.”

“Am not.”

“So, you broke your bike?”

“...did Arthur have me on speaker phone?”

His father laughed in his ear, “Maybe~.”

Alfred groaned. “Stop fucking with me, old man…”

“Now, now, language.” Alfred growled, and his father clicked his tongue at him.

“Seriously, why is everyone in this family so… mean?”

“Because we do love you, my boy, from the bottom of our hearts. We only want what’s best for you!”

“Yeah, okay.”

There was silence on the line for a moment, and then his father sighed and went, “You really won’t return home then?”

“I’m not returning home so you can collar me to the first person who asks.”

“Ah, we wouldn’t do that!”

“Uh-huh, then what was all that business before I left then?”

“That was to, you know, _introduce_ you to the idea. A mate is a very serious thing, Alfred. I’m frankly offended that you think we’d do something so cruel to you.”  

“Yeah, _right_ ,” Alfred said, and then he gentled his tone. “I’ll find my mate on my own, Papa.”

The other man sighed. “Yeah, I’m sure you will.”

* * *

 

Alfred cleaned up in the bathroom and even shaved for the first time in what felt like a few weeks. Which considering that he had mostly been on the road since the last city he’d been in seemed about right. His stomach was growling, and so he went looking for food on Feliciano’s recommendations.

He ended up at a restaurant that specialized in all types of kebabs. He had settled down with his food when the door opened and two men stepped inside. One of them was on the phone, and the other was holding onto a clipboard. The people behind the counter stood at attention as they entered and looked nervous. The man on the phone looked lazily around the shop, and his brown eyes met Alfred’s for a moment before they continued looking around.

“Sadik!” One of the men said. “What a pleasure to see you and Mr. Wang.”

The man with the clipboard, Sadik, shrugged and then laughed, continuing the conversation as Alfred wondered why his name seemed so familiar to him. It was a common name, true, and he’d passed through an area where it had been very common but… he had heard it more recently than a few months ago… he was really sure he had. He sipped his tea as he listened half-heartedly to the conversation taking place.

Before too long, Mr. Wang, the owner of the restaurant, and Sadik had disappeared into the back. Alfred hadn’t realized how tense the rest of the people in the restaurant were until they had.

 _Huh_ , he thought as he started on his second kebab. That was when Gilbert showed up in the company of that tall man he’d run into earlier (Ivan, was it?). He and Gilbert stared at each other for a long moment before Gilbert laughed and went, “So even dogs have good taste, huh?”

“I’m _not_ a dog,” Alfred said mildly as he fisted his hand on the table.

“Staying out of trouble then, puppy?” Gilbert asked as he took the seat across from Alfred. Ivan leaned against the counter and asked for some tea. “Ah, I see you’ve no lasting damages. Fucking monster.”

“Like you’re one to talk,” Alfred grumbled. He was too full to be so easily riled up as earlier, plus there was the location to consider. The place was starting to pick up that tense feeling again though, he couldn’t help but notice.

“Ah, is this the one that gave you such problems earlier, Gilbert?” Ivan pulled up a chair and studied Alfred. “I know you… from someplace…” Ivan said slowly. Alfred shrugged.

“I have that kinda face.”

“Mhm,” Ivan said, and his voice was still as creepily soft and gentle as it had been earlier when he’d faced off against those three men. “I wonder…”

Alfred ignored him and turned back to Gilbert. “I see the cops didn’t arrest you.”

“They wish they could,” Gilbert laughed. “Imagine the awesome me in jail, now there’s a picture.”

“Why didn’t they?” Alfred asked.

Gilbert just grinned at him. “Now, now mutt, are you sure you wanna know why?”

“Gilbert,” Ivan said with a warning note. “Don’t tease. Dogs get anxious about stuff like that.”

“I’m not a fucking dog.”

Ivan smiled at him. “And yet… you have the ears and the tail!”

“I’m a _wolf_.”

“A puppy,” Gilbert said dismissively.

Alfred’s hands ached to land a blow on his face, but he held himself in check. He’d already caused enough property damage, right? He had to stay outta jail so he could get his baby fixed, right? He thought of his bike, and held his temper, but barely.

“I think you upset the puppy,” Ivan said. He rested his heavy, too big hand on Alfred’s shoulder and squeezed.

Things clicked in Alfred’s head for a moment. “You’re a giant.”

“Mhm? Well, yes.”

“A rather _tiny_ one, aren’t you?” Alfred smirked at him. Ivan blinked, and his gentle look slipped for a moment.

“You are a mouthy puppy, aren’t you?”

Gilbert leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “Now, now, children, no fighting.”

“I didn’t start it, but I sure the hell will finish it,” Alfred picked Ivan’s hand off his shoulder and thrust it back at him. “Wanna see how mouthy I can get?”

“Honestly,” a voice he had never heard before cut in, “if it’s not one thing it’s another.” Alfred turned his head to see Mr. Wang standing there, phone absent, and Sadik at his shoulder. “Stop messing around, and go to your posts.”

Gilbert stood up, and didn’t even glance back at Alfred as he shrugged, “Sure, sure. Later, boss.”

Ivan did glance at him, but also stood up and headed out with a soft, “All right.”

“Sadik,” Mr. Wang said. Alfred couldn’t help but look towards him and wonder who the _fuck_ he was and why he was being called _boss_ of all things. “Who is this?”

Sadik glanced at him, even as Mr. Wang stared directly at him.

“Nobody,” Sadik seemed to settle on saying after a moment.

“Ah,” Mr. Wang said, and then left out the restaurant. Sadik didn’t follow him directly but stopped at Alfred’s table and snapped his fingers.

“I am _not_ a dog,” Alfred snapped at him. “You don’t have to do that to get my attention.”

“Kid,” Sadik said, “I don’t give a fuck who you are and see that it stays that way.”

“What?” Alfred asked, but Sadik was already exiting. “What the fuck?”

* * *

 

He didn’t finish his meal, but instead went for a walk alongside the river that wove its way through the new city he had found himself in. That got boring after a while, and the city was shutting down around him aside from pubs and bars, so he went back to the bed and breakfast. Lovino was working the counter by himself, and scowling at his phone, so Alfred just wished him a goodnight, and went back to his room.

He ended up video calling his twin brother and trading stories about stuff for a while. When he related the story of his meeting with _Mr. Wang_ Matthew gasped, and said, “Doesn’t that mean he’s like, you know, mafia or something? Or… I guess it’d be a triad over there...”

“What are you talking about?”

“Alfred! They were obviously there to get protection money! That’s probably why that Gilbert guy came and bothered you earlier today! And that scene you saw with that Ivan was probably some people from a competing triad who were going to fight him but got scared!”

“Oh… yeah, I guess you’re right.” Alfred nodded, because that all made sense.

“Yeah, so that Sadik guy was right, you should definitely stay a ‘nobody’ to them until you leave, okay?”

“Yeah,” Alfred said. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not like I’m going to try and interfere with their business or whatever!”

“Ah, good… I was getting worried…” Matthew said.

“You say that like I get in trouble all the time or something…” Matthew gave him a look. Alfred blushed and looked away from the camera for a moment. “Whatever! Hey, is Angel there?”

“Oh, you know her, she’s out with some friends. Why don’t you try calling her if you wanna talk with her?”

Alfred frowned at his twin, “She always seems busy when I do…”

“Alfred Franklin, you are so bad at being a big brother.”

“My middle name isn’t _Franklin_ , you ass.”

He and Matthew argued for a while after that, but when he yawned for the third time in ten minutes, Matthew pushed him to go to bed. He set his phone to charge and resolved to have a nicer day in the city in the morning.

* * *

 

On his way back from Ludwig’s shop to give him the money for the repairs, he got jumped. He was just thankful it happened _after_ he’d already handed over most of the money he had on him as he knocked heads together, and broke someone’s leg. What the fuck was wrong with this city if people were going around casually trying to kill strangers? He left his attackers in the alley they’d tried to kill him and headed back to the bed and breakfast. He put out his cigarette before he entered the building.

“Morning, Alfre— oh no! You’re seriously bleeding!” Feliciano broke off his greeting and looked at him with a lot of concern. “You should go to the doctor!”

“Huh?” Alfred looked down at his body and groaned. “Most of this isn’t mines, though…” But the slash on his arm did look pretty bad now that he was looking at it. It probably needed a few stitches now that he seriously considered it. “Where’s the doctor?”

Feliciano told him and then wished him good luck, which… seemed odd, but okay.

He entered the building and headed for the third floor where the clinic was located. Feliciano had wrapped up his arm so it wouldn’t drip blood everywhere but the bandage was steadyingly getting soaked through. There wasn’t anything to indicate that this was a clinic so he stood for a few moments in front of the door dumbly. Had he gotten the wrong floor?

The door opened and a pretty girl who looked within a few years of Angie’s age stood there. She blinked at him, and then gasped, “Big brother, there’s another one!”

Before Alfred realized it, he was sitting shirtless on a hospital bed in a spare bedroom and the girl was staring at his arm with a frown.

“Aren’t you too… young for this?” Alfred ventured at one point.

“I’m a vampire,” she said by way of explanation. Which, yeah, that was fair and made sense.

She cleaned the wound, and then told him to sit tight for a moment. Which, he wasn’t really planning on going anywhere so he did.

“Ah, Gilbert, not that room the other one!” The younger girl came trailing behind Gilbert who had entered his room by mistake apparently.

“Oh, it’s the puppy!”

“Still not a dog,” Alfred grumbled.

“Elise, you have to be careful of wild dogs,” Gilbert continued as if he hadn’t spoken, “They can be vicious and they usually have rabies.”

“Ah, I see,” the girl, Elise, said. She nodded up until someone else hit Gilbert on the back of the head as he entered the room.

“Is this my next patient?”

“Are you the doctor?” Alfred asked.

Gilbert laughed, “This guy’s no more a doctor than m— ”

The guy elbowed Gilbert out of the way, and came to examine Alfred’s arm. Gilbert rubbed his side, and glared at them both.

“Oi, Basch,” Gilbert complained. “You’re way too mean, you gotta have more of a bedside manner than that.”

“Please leave. I’ve already done all I can for you.” Basch said, looking at Alfred’s arm and then turning back to frown at Gilbert.

Gilbert grumbled, and then stared at Alfred for a moment, “Getting into trouble there, pup?”

“I’m _not_ a fucking dog.” He winced as Basch started to close his wound back up. He didn’t look because that was just gross and focused on Gilbert. Basch was silent. “And I have an actual _name_.”

“What’s the name of the puppy then? I don’t see a collar around your neck… so pardon me for not knowing it!”

“Please don’t tense up like that,” Basch said to him. “Stop antagonising my patients or I’ll call Wang.”

Gilbert groaned. “Always gotta be getting the _man_ involved.” Elise had disappeared, and Alfred wondered to where before she came back with a bottle of water for him.

“Losing all that blood couldn’t have been good for you!” she said cheerfully.

“So, what is the puppy’s name?” Gilbert asked loudly as Alfred stared at the water.

“It’s _Alfred_ and I’m not a damn dog.”

“I’m done,” Basch said. “Come back next week so I can take those out. Elise will schedule an appointment with you.”

Basch dragged Gilbert out of the room, and Elise told him how to take care of his stitches before booking him for next week.

The card she wrote his appointment on just said _Basch Zwingli_ and didn’t mention _anything_ about the guy having a license to practice.

He got back to the B&B and asked Feliciano outright where he’d even heard of the man.

“Huh? Well, it’s not like you could’ve gone to a human doctor, right?”

Alfred considered that, and sighed because that was true.

* * *

 

Ludwig said his bike repairs were coming along as best he could without the parts, and asked him to have patience. Alfred didn’t know if he could _last_ another day in the city because it seemed like he just was constantly getting caught up in some sorta ongoing turf war that was going on.

“Some guy seriously knifed me the other day and you want me to be patient?” he asked Ludwig. He was sitting in some half repaired car while Ludwig worked on the engine.

“Well,” Ludwig squinted at him, considering him, “It’s probably due to how you’re dressing, right? They think you’re _one_ of them but can’t tell which side you’re operating on.”

“I’m not on any of these losers sides. Argh, maybe I should just go beat up the big boss and call it a day so they’ll leave me the fuck alone.”

Ludwig laughed. “I don’t think you can take Wang.”

Alfred thought over that slight man that he’d met on his first day. “I’m pretty fucking sure I could take him.”

Ludwig shrugged. “Just change how you’re dressing and I’m sure you won’t run into anymore trouble.”

“You say that like money grows on trees.”

“You have trust-fund kid written all over you,” Ludwig said.

Alfred beeped the horn and had the satisfaction of watching Ludwig swear.

* * *

 

He really didn’t want to go clothes shopping, but when he looked at his clothes a good percentage of them had become unwearable due to all the fights he’d gotten into in the literal six days he’d been in the city. So he sucked it up and went to the outdoor shops. He spent more time in the game shop than in the clothing stores, but when there was only one place that carried jeans made for tail-havers that made shopping boring.

His brain was on dinner, and maybe that’s why it took him so long to realize that he was being followed. He led his attackers into an alleyway, dropped his bags, and got to work. He was grinding one dude’s hands into mush beneath his boot when he felt the stab of a needle in the side of his leg. He looked down and saw one of the men smirking at him as his world tilted and down he fell.

The last thing he heard before he faded was, “Yeah, we got him.”

* * *

 

He was in a cage, Alfred realized when he came to. Well, not a cage but a jail cell or something like that. And the fuckers had collared him. He went to rip the collar off and got a shock of electricity for his efforts.

“Fucking monsters, he woke up faster than I thought he would.”

He sniffed the air, and yeah, these were humans. How had he got taken down by _humans_ , of all things? He growled and one of his captors jerked back before grimacing.

“Let me out of here.”

“You think we’re stupid? We’ve seen what you’ve done to our guys. Now you’re just going to sit tight till the boss shows up.”

His mind _instantly_ went to Wang, and he growled again. “The fuck does Wang want with me?”

“...Wang? Yao Wang? You think he did this?” one of the humans laughed, “As if we’d work for a monster!”

Alfred slammed up against the bars and got another jolt of electricity for his efforts, “LET ME OUT!”

The humans just _laughed_ at him, and pretended to ignore him. Alfred knew they couldn’t really be ignoring him, because what the _fuck._ He reopened his wound that Basch had stitched up and it hurt worse than when he had gotten it.

Yeah, okay. He had gotten literally kidnapped. Now, how was he supposed to get out of this mess?

He still hadn’t come up with a plan when their boss showed up.

Alfred stared at the human and growled at him.

“Wild thing, isn’t he?” the man said. “You sure this is the one who beat up all those men?”

“Yessir.”

“You the boss? Let me go.”

“Oh, I will. After you play your part, boy.”

Alfred growled at him but the boss didn’t seem scared of him.

“For too long this city has lived under that man’s influence—” Alfred tuned him out, fuming as he was wont to do when things weren’t going his way. What was he supposed to do? Especially with this collar that shocked him when he tried to take it off?

“You’re lucky these bars are between us,” Alfred grimly said, interrupting the boss mid-sentence, “Or I would rip your throat out.”

“Save the anger, boy. Kill Wang and you’ll get your freedom back.”

“What the fuck? I’m not getting in this… gang war you got going on.”

“After you took out so many of my men and Wang’s, I’d say you’re pretty involved.”

Alfred snarled.

“Down, boy,” the boss said. “You can kill Wang, or I will make that collar deliver such a shock that you die from it. Even monsters can be killed by humans, you know?”

Oh, Alfred knew. He knew full well what _humans_ were capable of. After all, hadn’t it been humans attacking their family that had seen his mother die?

The collar buzzed threateningly, and Alfred remembered his family. They’d never know what had happened to him if he died here, would they?

“Fine,” he said. “I’ll kill him.”

* * *

 

The plan was fucking stupid, Alfred couldn’t help but think as they escorted him to a catwalk above a table in a bar.

The boss and Wang were supposed to be meeting to come to an agreement on what belonged to the monsters and what belonged to the humans. Alfred was supposed to interrupt the meeting and bite out Yao’s throat.

“Want me to claw out his heart while I’m at it?” he’d asked sarcastically.

“Pretty sure he doesn’t have one,” the boss had said seriously.

He watched as Wang approached the table, flanked on either side by Sadik and Ivan who were almost towering over him. It wasn’t that Wang was short, it was that both men with him were larger than almost anyone else. But even still, it was Wang who had control of the room from the moment he entered. He let his eyes wander, and he saw Gilbert standing near the entrance. Had Wang only really bought three men with him for this? He was either overconfident or stupid. Either way Alfred had to kill him.

He couldn’t help but remember Ludwig’s laugh when he said he’d fight Wang so that he could get left alone. Then, the boss gave the hand signal, and one of his _handlers_ said “Now,” so he dropped down, and the bar erupted into chaos.

He jumped for Wang before either Ivan or Sadik could interfere as the boss did what he’d said he’d do and started to run for the entrance with his men shooting wildly to defend him.

He pinned Wang down and went for his throat, and all Wang had to defend himself was his hands and he put them to work. They grappled and Wang slammed up into Alfred’s face and in that daze that left him in, yanked hard on the collar around his neck. Somehow he ended up pinned down, Wang’s knees forcing his arms still and unable to move as he stared into Wang’s eyes and Wang’s hair fell like a curtain between them as his mouth grazed off of Alfred throat and Alfred realized _that fucker had me fight a_ **_vampire_ ** before there was a sharp burst of electricity and he passed out.

* * *

 

When he came to his world was white. There was a beeping in his ear, and someone was on the phone. He thought he heard his father’s name as he raised his hand up to touch his neck. The collar was gone. He shuddered as he realized how close he’d been to dying. He had fought a vampire and lived to tell the story. He then realized that he was fucking strapped down to a bed.

“Fucking humans,” he muttered.

“Oi, the pup’s awake.”

“So he is. You can go, Gilbert.”

“Huh? You sure that’s smart, Yao? ...Fine, fine. We’ll be outside.”

The door opened and shut, and then Wang was leaning over his bed. He looked like he couldn’t settle on what kind of face to make so he had settled on a blank mask. It was terrifying.

“So,” Wang said softly, “You’re the pup that’s been causing such a ruckus.”

Alfred couldn’t look away, so he settled on sighing, “I never picked those fights first.”

Wang raised an eyebrow, and then looked down. “More lucid than I thought you’d be.”

Alfred started to ask him _what_ he was talking about when he suddenly felt freer. Wang had undid the straps holding him to the bed, and was now pulling up a chair as if they were going to have a friendly little chat. He sat up, and winced even as he rubbed at his neck.

“Since you’ve arrived you’ve been a menace.”

“I have not.”

“You picked a fight with Gilbert in front of a store, and you’ve left a trail of broken bodies behind you after that. What would that be if _not_ a menace?”  

“Maybe your men shouldn’t pick fights with strangers, then?”

“They only pick fights with threats,” Wang crossed his legs. “You tried to kill me, you know.”

Alfred looked away from him, and looked out what looked like it might be a rather nice view of the lake. “It was either kill you or die. I rather like living.” Was he in a hospital? The gown and machines around him suggested as much, but Wang looked way too at _home_ for it to be. He looked back at the man, trying to figure out why he was still alive when he clearly remembered his teeth against his throat.

“I never would have thought you’d be so weak as to get captured by humans, I must admit.”

“I’m _not_ weak.” Alfred didn’t mean to growl at Wang, but it just came out that way.

“Of course you’re not, Alfred. A child of the moon can hardly be called a weak thing. Especially one from such a noble house as yours.”

Alfred felt his heart stop for a moment as he looked at Wang, “How do you know about that?”

Wang leaned forward for a moment. “Your brother’s wedding was televised, Alfred. And considering that you’re identical twins, it wasn’t hard to figure out. Also…” Wang reached into his pocket and pulled out Alfred’s phone, “The picture on here told its own story.”

Alfred caught his phone after Wang tossed it his way.

“Do you know what Zhang planned on doing with you after he had you kill me, Alfred?”

“Take that stupid collar off.”

“Hardly,” Wang said. “Don’t be naive, Alfred. He was going to use you to do more missions for him or sell you to the highest bidder. The son of a noble probably would have fetched him high price.”

“Why are you telling me this? Telling me what you plan on doing to me?” _Is that why I’m still alive?_

Wang shook his head. “I don’t engage in that sort of market, Alfred. I currently have no plans to do anything with you. I called your family to inform them that you were okay, since you’ve been out for a week, and you’re more than free to go.”

“I sense a ‘but’.”

Wang smiled. “You’ve managed to help bring about a welcome change in this city, Alfred. I am thankful for you doing so.”

Alfred blinked, and looked at that smile, and asked even as his brain told him it was a dangerous, dangerous thing to do. “What did you do to Zhang?”

Wang winked at him. “I’m sure your imagination can fill in the blanks. I eliminated a _threat_ to the balance of my city.”

Alfred shivered. “You want something from me, don’t you?” He couldn’t help but remember those teeth against his throat and the knowledge that this man had the power to kill him but had instead apparently saved him.

“Well, obviously,” Wang said. “I want to offer you a job, Alfred.”

“...what?”

Wang nodded, “A job serving on my protection detail.”

“I tried to kill you,” Alfred pointed out.

“Because you thought you’d die if you didn’t. As I’ve already proven, I’m stronger than you, pup.”

That ‘pup’ should sound like an insult, but the way Wang says it makes it seem more intimate than that.

“That’s… a tempting offer but I can’t.” Alfred shook his head.

“Got someplace else to be then, Alfred?”

“Well… not really but—”

“Then stay awhile.”

“I can’t, I gotta find— ”

“Stay. If you’re looking for something, someone, then they’ll find their way to you when the time is right.”

Alfred sighed and flopped back on the bed. He’s been looking for six years, been traveling for all that time, and still hasn’t _found_ that person. “Fine. What does being part of your detail even mean?”

Wang stood up, and then leaned over Alfred on the bed. “It means that you’d give your life to save mines. That you devote yourself to my cause, my goals.” Wang’s brown eyes shouldn’t look so hypnotizing when he was saying such outrageous things.

“Yeah,” Alfred said, and didn’t move because Wang was way too close, “I think _not_.”

“Turning down my offer?”

“I’m not going to die for you, is all I’m saying. I’ll accept your offer.”

Wang’s lips smiled but his eyes did not. They looked troubled.

“That’s fine,” Wang said at last. “Rest up, Alfred. The doctor will come and see you in a bit.”

* * *

 

The doctor turned out to be Basch, which made sense.

“Are you like an underground doctor or something?” Alfred asked as Basch examined his neck and his other wounds. Apparently in their fight, Wang had managed to crack a few of his ribs. Alfred grinned for a moment because he’s never been up against a man quite like Wang that he couldn’t beat. “Or just Wang’s private doctor?”

Basch was a bit rougher for a moment with rewrapping the bandages around his ribs, “The laws in this country make it so monsters can’t practice medicine legally. Even though this was _our_ country first.”

“Huh,” Alfred said. “Are you a vampire too then?”

“You ask too many questions,” Basch said. “That’s going to get you killed one day.”

The brief smile Basch gave him when he departed revealed scary sharp teeth so Alfred chalked that up as a yes.

* * *

 

Gilbert and Ivan took turns _babysitting_ him as Gilbert complained. Well, it’s more like they’re trying to drum in Yao’s goals and plans into his head but Alfred just, he didn’t care. It wasn’t not like he was going to be around long enough to see them come to play. He was just here until he healed, maybe for a few months after that for the lols, and then he and his bike were leaving.

“Shit,” Alfred said when Gilbert was droning on about something about politics a few days later, “I left my bike at Ludwig’s shop!”

“Oh? That monster bike is yours?” Gilbert asked after Alfred explained what he means.

“You’ve seen it?”

“Pretty hard to miss…”

“How do you know Ludwig? Wait… don’t tell me you’re punking him outta protection money…!”

“Asshole, that’s my baby brother of course I’m not!”

Alfred tried to see any possible genetic links between Gilbert and Ludwig and he just couldn’t do it. “How?”

“Well when a mother and father love each other very much—”

Alfred tuned out Gilbert and went to call Ludwig.

“Ludwig speaking.”

“Ludwig! Sorry that I disappeared without warning, but can you hold onto my bike for a little bit longer?”

“Alfred? I thought you were dead! Where are you?”

“I’m… not exactly sure. A lot happened and now I’m working for Wang and—”

“That sounds like a long story. Why don’t you tell me when you come and get your bike?”

“Sure. Can you let Feliciano and Lovino know that I’ll come back for my stuff soon?”

“I’ll do that.”

“Please make sure that Lovino hasn’t tossed it out!”

“...I’ll call them right away.”

“Thanks.”

He hung up and Gilbert had an odd look on his face.

“What?”

Gilbert shook his head, “You really think you’re leaving anytime soon?”

“What do you mean?” Alfred asked.

“You have three cracked ribs. There is _no_ way that Yao is going to let you just mosey on down to the other side of town like that.”

“Wang's not the boss of me.”

Gilbert raised an eyebrow.

Alfred sighed, “I won’t know until I ask, right?”

* * *

 

Wang allowed him to go but under the condition that he personally accompanied him.

“Last time you were wandering around this way you did get kidnapped,” Wang told him while they’re in his fucking limo of all things.

“Okay, but consider this; a limo? This is legit embarrassing.”

“You’ll live.”

Ludwig snapped to attention when they exit the limo. Alfred forgot his embarrassment and sunk to his knees and wrapped his arms around his bike.

“Oh baby, I am _never_ leaving you again,” he muttered.

“Um,” Wang said. “Should we give you a minute?”

“Never, ever again.”

“Yeah, that’s just how he is,” Ludwig said. “Tea? He’ll be like that for a while.”

When Alfred finally got done crying over his beloved bike, he went looking for something to drink. Wang and Ludwig were sitting at the table bent over a tablet.

“Don’t tell me you work for Wang _too_.”

Wang smiled at him, “Is there something wrong with him working for me?”

Alfred didn’t trust that smile. So he shut his mouth and found a soda and popped it open.

“Feliciano said your bags are ready for you whenever you want to get them, Alfred.”

“Oh, that’s cool,” Alfred said. “I’ll ride my bike over and get them then.”

Silence followed his statement, and he looked over at the two to see Wang looking at him with a considering look and Ludwig looking at Wang.

“There is no possible way you’re riding a bike in your condition,” Wang said.

Alfred looked at his bike which he could see right _there_ and whined low in his throat. “Why not?”

“No,” Wang said looking surprised. “No way.”

“I’ll let you ride with me?” Alfred offered.

“Tempting, but no.”

Alfred slumped against the counter and groaned. And groaned louder when Wang and Ludwig turned back to the tablet until finally Wang waved a hand and Alfred came over.

“What?” Alfred grumbled. Wang gripped his shirt collar and pulled until Alfred was hovering over him. “What!”

“Stop whining.”

“I am _not_.”

Wang raised an eyebrow and Alfred flushed.

“I just want to ride her…”

“You’ve named it?”

Ludwig muttered something as Alfred grinned down at Wang, “Yes.”

Wang narrowed his eyes, “Do I want to know what her name is?”

“No,” Ludwig said.

“Her name,” Alfred said, “is _The Prowler_.”

Wang groaned, and released his shirt.

* * *

 

Whatever anyone else said, whining seemed to annoy Wang enough for Alfred to get his way. He dismissed the limo and put on the helmet Ludwig found for him with very little complaining.

Alfred hadn’t realized how weird it would be to sit on his bike again for the first time in almost a month with Wang behind him. With Wang clinging to him as he sped through the streets and then back to the shop to fulfil his threat to kiss Ludwig on the mouth for fixing her up as good as new. Wang's presence made him switch his kiss to a nice thump on the back that didn’t really make Ludwig budge.

“I’ll give Feli your love,” he teased Ludwig as he got back on the bike and Wang wrapped his arms around his waist.

Ludwig facepalming was all he saw as he hurried towards the river and the B&B that he had stayed at what seemed a lifetime ago. Lovino was in an argument at the front desk with the cook whose name was Antonio but he broke off long enough to go grab Alfred’s bags and tell him to go to hell.

“Charming,” Wang said. He had saw the whole thing and hadn’t stepped in once.

Alfred stowed his bags and then got back on the bike. He patted the seat behind him. “Where to next, your majesty?”

“Says the noble.” Wang got on the bike behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist once more. “Do you know the way back home?”

“I’m like a lord yeah but I’m pretty sure you were a king in your past life.”

“You wouldn’t be _wrong_ ,” Wang said.

Alfred grinned, “How old are you anyway?”

“Far, far too old for this. Take me home, pup.”

* * *

 

It was easy to fall into a routine after that. He got his own room in Wang’s house, and after his ribs had healed and he got the all clear from Basch was made to go get fitted for suits with Ivan and Sadik. Gilbert made him learn how to properly fight instead of street brawling, and that was fun. Sometimes Wang watched them fight and gave them tips on how to correct their stances.

One evening when he was lounging around in his pajama bottoms and reading a comic that he’d fallen behind on during his travels, Gilbert burst into his room and screamed.

“What?! What’s wrong?” Alfred asked after he picked himself off the floor.

“You’re _naked_ for _shame_.”

“...you _asshole_ what the fuck.”

“But that makes this easier,” Gilbert said. He came and laid out a just pressed suit on his bed. “Put that on and then come down to the garage. You have been chosen.”

“Chosen for what?” Alfred asked, but Gilbert was closing his door and winking at him. The fuck was going on?

He looked at the suit and put it on. And then he frowned because this reminded him way too much of growing up for comfort. He sighed and went to the garage where Wang was nodding at something Ivan was saying to him that he was reading off of a clipboard. Wang looked at him for a moment, and then he waved for Alfred to come over.

“Time to earn your paycheck, pup.”

“You’re paying me now?” Alfred asked amused as Wang loosened his tie and undid a few buttons on his shirt and generally made Alfred look sloppy. Wang reached his hands up and messed up Alfred’s hair and then touched his ears for a moment. He rubbed them and Alfred couldn’t help the slight twitch of his tail at that.

“Of course I am,” Wang stepped back and looked over his work. “Now, you look proper.”

“I was proper before. Now I’m a mess.”

Wang smirked at him. “That’s the point. All right, you’ll ride next to me. Stay on my left. Ivan, stay on my right.”

Ivan had pointedly looked away at his clipboard, but now he nodded and waved at the black SUV, “After you.”

Ivan got into the driver’s seat and Wang got into the back so Alfred slid in after him. Wang touched his knee for a second to make sure he had his attention when Ivan started driving and they left the house.

“We’re going to dine with the enemy tonight, Alfred.”

“I thought you owned the city now or whatever?”

Wang laughed, “Hardly. These are… politicians.”

“Human politicians?”

“Mhm, things aren’t the same here as they are where you’re from, Alfred. Monsters have more rights in your homeland than they do here.”

“That why you’re part of the underground?”

“Because they’ve forced me to be.” Wang sighed, “In another life… well, whatever. We’re dining with the enemy tonight, and I need you to be on your worst behavior.”

“Not my best?”

Wang grinned. “They expect monsters, Alfred. And I am all about exceeding expectations.”

Alfred grinned back, “I’ll be better than worst.”

“Good pup.”

* * *

 

The restaurant was on a small island in the middle of the river. The enemy was one of the older members of whatever governing body ruled the land Alfred had stumbled into. He really should have paid more attention to Gilbert and Ivan’s lessons. Well, that was what the internet and a library were for.

Yao settled down on his chair and Ivan and Alfred formed a wall behind him. Ivan wasn’t as untidy as he was, but he wasn’t all straightlaced as Alfred had been originally. Whenever the politician’s bodyguards glanced at him, he made sure to grin back with all his teeth. Ivan kept his scary-calm smile on his face the entire time, and by the time they were moving on to dessert the two guards looked visibly shaken.

Mr. Politician did not.

Yet, Wang looked happy when they got back into the car, and kept tapping his fingers to his lips and grinning.

“What was this meeting about anyway?” Alfred asked.

“Turning the tides, Alfred, turning the tides.”

“Oh, okay Wang.”

Something flickered in Wang’s eyes for a moment, and then he touched Alfred’s hand on the seat, out of view of Ivan’s rearview mirror. “You know, you’re more than free to call me ‘Yao,’ Alfred. Everyone else does.”

“Um,” Alfred said. “isn’t that a bit unprofessional?”

“Alfred,” Wang said, “I’ve had my teeth against your throat. I think we’re beyond professional-unprofessional now.”

Alfred shrugged, “You’re the bossman, Wa— Yao.”

His boss smiled, and then leaned forward, dropping an arm across Alfred’s legs as he did so to talk to Ivan about the meeting.

* * *

 

It was during his fifth month of living in the city that Alfred realized that he didn’t feel restless as he usually would by this point. He didn’t feel content, per say, but he didn’t feel the urge to hop on his bike and drive until the city was but a distant memory. He was eating cereal in the kitchen when he realized that, scratched his ear, and went “Huh,” out loud.

“You sound like you just realized something important,” Yao was wearing pajama bottoms and a silk robe on top of that. Alfred had just stumbled out of bed and headed to the kitchen because his stomach was growling. It was about (he checked the clock) five in the morning, and he was standing in the kitchen shirtless with his boss.

“Not… really,” he evaded.

Yao raised an eyebrow and then started the tea kettle. Silence fell, and the only noise came from the birds waking up.

“What do you know about dancing, Alfred?”

“I know I hate it,” Alfred grumbled, just shuddering to remember all the dance lessons his parents had forced him to endure until he was sixteen.

“That’s too bad.” Yao went through the motions to make himself a nice pot of tea, and Alfred frowned at him.

“Why is that too bad?”

“I recently acquired a night club. I was going to take you with me to investigate it, but I suppose Ivan will do.” Alfred didn’t ask how Yao had _acquired_ a night club overnight, but suspected it had something to do with the meeting he had gone to last night that he’d only taken Sadik for.

“Like that loser can dance,” Alfred blurted out. Ivan had recently started coming to his and Gil’s fighting lessons and far too often for Alfred’s liking managed to win against Alfred all the time.

“He can probably dance better than you,” Yao said, “Since he manages to pin you so oft—”

Alfred slammed his fist on the counter, and then winced as he looked at his now red and bruised knuckles. “Shit.” He went to lick up the blood, but Yao had his hand before he realized it and was staring at the blood welling up in sick fascination.

“May I?” Yao asked, and he sounded so polite as if he were asking for something normal and not permission to lick blood off of Alfred’s hand.

“Um,” Alfred looked down at his boss, and then at the stove which was on the opposite side of the kitchen (how had he _moved_ that fast, the _fuck_ ) and shrugged, “Yeah, sure.”

Yao’s touch was tender as he pressed his lips to the back of Alfred’s hand and licked at the blood that was coating it. Alfred had never realized how sensitive his hands were until he got unlucky enough to have Yao devote his full attention to licking and sucking against the skin. Yao sucked one, and then two of his fingers into his mouth and gave them a wet suck, and Alfred realized that he was standing in his boss’s kitchen, with his fingers in his boss’s mouth, and he was hard. His breath was coming out loud and heavy to his own ears as Yao continued, seemingly oblivious to the effect that he was having on Alfred. But then Yao looked up at him, with two of Alfred’s fingers in his mouth and smirked.

He smirked, slid Alfred’s fingers out of his mouth, and then licked finally at the bleeding wounds. As Alfred watched him, and as Yao watched his hand the wounds sluggishly stopped bleeding.

“You should still wrap that up,” Yao said as he dropped a kiss to Alfred’s knuckles. “Learn how to control your temper, Alfred.”

“Um,” was all Alfred could say because he was beyond words. Yao flashed him a smile, lips red with his blood, and then walked slowly to the stove. Alfred abandoned ship, because what the _fuck_.  

He ended up pressed against his bedroom door, injured hand wrapped around his cock, and other hand covering his mouth as he jerked off to the image of those lips wrapped around his fingers, taking them so easily as if it was nothing.

He ended up kneeling on the floor, staring at the carpet which he had ruined, and cursing himself. He wanted to fuck Yao.

* * *

 

He stayed in his room for the rest of the day, shifting between sleeping and thinking about texting his brother about this newfound desire, and just overall trying to figure out what he should do.

He wanted to fuck Yao, had probably been attracted to him for a while now, but Yao’s move in the kitchen proved that he wanted him back right? Yao had looked so focused, so hungry when he had been cleaning up Alfred’s hand.

He ended up coming again to the image of Yao licking at his hand, only instead of his hand it was Alfred’s _dick_ and they were getting ready to fuck, and Alfred was so screwed. He was pretty sure that fucking the boss would be a really bad idea.

He was laying in the dark of his room when he got a text from Gilbert.

“Yao says be ready to go to the club at 9 or he’s taking Ivan,” he read out loud. He checked the time, and groaned.

* * *

 

One shower later, he was entering the garage while shoving on his leather jacket. He looked around for Yao and found him fucking lounging on Alfred’s bike like it was his own. Alfred’s blood pumped in his head, and then flooded down south. Yao looked way, way too good like that. He looked like something Alfred could have.

When their eyes met, Yao leaned up and reached for what had quickly become _his_ helmet.

“Ready to go, pup?” Yao asked softly. That simple sentence sounded loaded with all sorts of meaning, but Alfred has always been a simple guy. He picked up his helmet and climbed on the bike.

“Which way?”

“It’s downtown,” Yao said, wrapping his arms around Alfred.

* * *

 

The club was one that Alfred had been to before during his tours with Gilbert. How much of the city did Yao fucking have control over at this point? Anything less than _all of it_ was an unbelievable answer. The bouncer took one look at them, and _bowed_ them through.

“You are old enough to drink, aren’t you, pup?” Yao asked as he led them away from the bar and up the steps to the VIP rooms.

“You know I am.” Alfred was twenty-six now, his birthday having passed with a small celebration a couple weeks after he started working for Yao.

“Never can tell with you moon children,” Yao said. “Always makes me feel like I’m robbing the cradle.”

“You’re a vampire, you must be used to that by now.”

Yao’s eyes _flashed_ back at him on the steps before he turned back around and waved aside the bouncer up there.

Alfred rolled his eyes and followed Yao into the center VIP room. It overlooked the main dance floor, and had its own mini bar so that whoever occupied it wouldn’t have to bother going downstairs unless they wanted to.

Yao asked him what he wanted to drink and then mixed it for him because he had to be perfect at everything. Alfred accepted the glass and looked down at the people dancing. Yao joined him with his own golden drink, and sipped it.

“Look at them,” Yao said with some fondness. “Monsters and humans together. Cooperating.”

“If that’s what you wanna call it,” Alfred watched as some girl grinded against a lady werewolf below them.

“What would you call it then, Alfred?”

Alfred shrugged, “Dunno.”

Yao smiled, and then wrapped his fingers loosely around Alfred’s wrist and tugged him to the futon sofa in front of the glass. “They can’t see us, but we can see them.”

“That’s something.”

“The wonders of modernity.”

Alfred looked at him, really looked at him, and leaned back against the sofa as he sipped his drink, “How old _are_ you, Yao?”

“Old enough that Yao isn’t my true name.”

“Centuries?”

“Try a few millenniums.”

“All right.”

Yao looked at his glass and then set it on the table in front of them, “You believe me?”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“People so rarely do.”

“Are you lying to me?” Yao shook his head in the negative, and Alfred nodded at him, “Then that’s why I believe you.”

“You are a wonder, Alfred,” Yao said. He sounded sad and fond as he said that. Alfred’s heart _ached_.

“So are you, thousands of years old and you still wanna change the world.”

“The world can be changed, Alfred, never doubt that.”

Alfred laughed, and then in disbelief at himself said, “I have full faith in your abilities.”

Yao smiled at him, and then leaned across him to take Alfred’s glass from his hand and set it on the table. He came back up, and he stroked the back of Alfred’s neck as he looked deep into his eyes. “Show me then. Show me this faith of yours.”

* * *

 

When Arthur courted his father after Alfred’s mother was killed, Alfred had resented him with everything in his soul. Matthew had tolerated him, and Angie had been way too young to do more than cry constantly for her mom who was never coming back.

Arthur tried everything he could to win Alfred to his side, until finally Alfred had told him that the only way he’d accept him was if he bought his mother back to life. Arthur had backed off then.

Alfred had stumbled across a rare scene the week after he’d given his ultimate declaration of war against Arthur. His father had been clinging to Arthur and they’d been fighting. They often fought, but he had never seen his father cry like this before— he hadn’t even cried this hard at the funeral when his wife had been buried.

He was frozen in shock at this rare show of emotion from his father that he had stepped back from entering into the study. As he tried to force himself to enter or leave, Arthur had cupped one hand to the back of his father’s head and said, “Francis. Trust me. Believe in me. I will return to you.”

Arthur had then kneeled to his father and swore on his life that he would return.

“I’m not going to leave you again,” Arthur said. His father had leaned down and kissed Arthur, and that was when Alfred realized that he couldn’t keep his father from finding happiness again if that’s what he wanted.

Arthur had left, and then returned having avenged Alfred’s mother’s death all by himself. He had been beaten, and worn but he had still came to a stop before Alfred and told him what he had done.

“I can’t bring her back, but I can make sure no one else suffers like she did.”

Alfred had accepted him completely then.

* * *

 

Alfred leaned forward and let Yao’s fingers comb through his hair as he considered what he should do. That ultimate act, submitting himself to Yao; would Yao even understand such a thing? And more importantly, did Alfred want to do that for Yao? Devote himself fully to Yao when he had no promise that Yao would understand such a thing or would return it?

Yao was patient beside him, even as his fingers lightly toyed with Alfred’s ear as if knowing that he liked to be touched there, but knowing that the touch had to be gentle.

“Have you… been with other werewolves before?”

Yao’s hand didn’t pause on his ear as he said, “Yes.”

Alfred nodded, and then stood up.

Yao waited for him, arms on either side of him, and looking up at Alfred.

Alfred took a deep breath, and then folded himself down. Hands loose in his lap, head bowed slightly, eyes on Yao always. Yao who was watching him back, and now reached out to touch him, and smiled.

“Look at you,” Yao said. “Are you sure about this, pup? There’s no going back if you do this.”

Something gave in Alfred’s heart and he couldn’t help his soft smile. “How long have you wanted me anyways?”

“Always,” Yao muttered. “It’s always going to be _you_.”

Alfred couldn’t help his tail from wagging behind at _that_ , as he grinned up at Yao, and kissed the palm of his hand.

Yao laughed, “Aren’t you going to say your vows?”

“I will never,” Alfred said, looking directly at Yao, “betray you or hurt you. I will protect you. I will be your home. I’ll be with you always.”

“Short, and to the point. So like you,” Yao said. He bent down and kissed Alfred. “Do you know how vampires mate, Alfred?”

“Why do I get the feeling it involves blood?” Alfred muttered after they kissed for a bit more, and he got over the feeling of how natural it felt.

“Vampires mate for life, Alfred,” Yao grinned at him, and pressed cool fingers against his neck. “You really willing to be mines for that long?”

“I just said _always_ you ass.”

“Just checking,” Yao said. He kissed Alfred and then pulled away, saying only, “No, don’t move,” as he went to get a small box from the bar. Yao came back and kneeled on the floor with him. “I know how important ceremony is to your people.”

Alfred couldn’t believe his eyes as Yao opened the box and inside was a collar, and a bracelet that matched it.

“You know about all this?” Alfred asked.

“Mhm,” Yao said, unbuckling the collar and looking in Alfred’s eyes.

“You were planning this.” Alfred was in disbelief as he stared at Yao.

“I was hoping for this,” Yao corrected. “You gonna let me collar you or not, handsome?”

Alfred looked at the collar. Yao flipped it so he could see their names burned into the leather on the inside. Alfred nodded his head, too overcome with emotions to speak. Yao slipped the collar around his neck and buckled him in. He then pressed his fingers underneath the leather and kissed Alfred.

Alfred helped him put the bracelet on, and then kissed him. He growled low in his throat.

“Yeah,” Yao said. “I know. Look at you, all nice and collared and _mine_.” He looped his fingers in the golden buckle and made Alfred follow him back to the sofa.

“Look at you,” Alfred said, torn between the leather of the bracelet around Yao’s wrist and Yao’s face for which he wanted to look at more. He settled on Yao’s face, and then settled on pushing just _right_ against the futon to make it turn into the proper bed it was always meant to be. Yao was wearing his bracelet, a twin to the collar around his neck, to let people know that he was claimed, that he was taken.

Alfred didn’t know how to control himself as he hurried to take off their clothes, and only paused when Yao informed him in a laughing voice that he had _lube_ in his jeans pocket and that it would be unwise to toss them off before getting it.

“You planned this,” Alfred said against his throat as he took a moment to calm down, because how was it possible that his heart was beating this much from sheer want and he wasn’t dead yet? “Were you even going to invite Ivan tonight or was that just to rile me up, you asshole?”

“Should you really be calling your husband an asshole on your wedding night?” Yao carded his fingers through Alfred’s hair, and pressed fingers against his ears as their bare chests touched each other.

“Oh god,” Alfred said. _His wedding night? Oh FUCK his parents were going to kill him, Matthew was going to kill him, Angie would too, but he was never taking this collar off._

“Shush, worry about it later. Fuck me now, and worry about that later, pup.”

So Alfred pushed those thoughts out of his head, and calmly took the lube out of Yao’s pants before discarding them and his own on the floor. Their boxers joined the pants, and finally he could see all of Yao. He took his time touching and tasting, until Yao pressed his lips to his throat and muttered, “Fuck me before I fuck you.”

Alfred grinned at him, and Yao kissed him for a moment before turning on his stomach and holding himself up. Alfred took the hint, spread the lube over his fingers, and pressed his fingers, one by one, inside of Yao until his face was flushed, and he was trembling, and he was demanding that Alfred hurry up.

Alfred rubbed the remaining lube on his cock, and then pressed his way inside of Yao. He lowered himself over him as he found that perfect pace. Yao was half laughing at him, and calling him a jerk for taking so long, and so that told Alfred that he wasn’t doing it right.

He went harder, and then _faster_ and then Yao wasn’t laughing anymore, but moaning, and Alfred was surprised when no one came to investigate what they were doing. He looked for a moment at the window overlooking the club and shuddered. Those people dancing down there had _no_ idea, huh?

“No one in this city has _any_ idea do they,” Alfred muttered in Yao’s ear. “They’re all scared of you, but no one would be if they could hear you right now.”

Yao _laughed_. “Like you’d ever let someone else hear this and live.” Alfred growled and Yao moaned. “Like hell you’d ever share this with someone else.”

And Yao was right, which was the worst part. Alfred bit down on Yao’s shoulder, and Yao shuddered beneath him.

“Mine,” Alfred muttered, just already getting pissed about everyone who’d ever seen Yao like this. Getting angry at all those past werewolves that he known must have felt this same way about Yao before.

“No,” Yao muttered, “you’re _mine_.”

Alfred kissed gently at the bite that was welling up with blood, and then lapped at it, drinking down Yao’s blood because everything that was Yao was _his_ and everything he was was Yao’s.

That seemed to be the tipping point for Yao because he gasped and came without his cock being touched, and Alfred fucked him through it, going until he couldn’t anymore. Alfred fell on top of Yao, but Yao still had enough strength to flip them and kiss Alfred until his lips bleed from the sheer force, and all Alfred could think was that he hadn’t tired Yao out well enough.

* * *

 

The first person to find out about his new circumstances was Gilbert because he was sitting in the kitchen getting a beer when they entered the kitchen from the garage. He didn’t see their hands tangled together but took one look at the collar around Alfred’s neck and choked.

Alfred patted his back as Yao went to get water, and then Gilbert reached up and stopped just shy of touching Alfred’s collar.

“Looks like… puppy finally got tamed.” Gilbert fell to the floor laughing. Yao drank the water which he had originally gotten for Gilbert, and then came and tugged on Alfred’s buckle.

“Laugh it up, Gilbert, but now Alfred outranks you.”

Alfred smirked down at Gilbert as the ghoul gasped for air. They left the kitchen.

“Is he going to be all right?” Alfred wondered as he followed Yao up, up to his rooms. He’d only been in them once or twice before, and now he was apparently going to live in them. He was still trying to wrap his head around the whole _marriage_ thing.

“It’s not like he’s going to die that easily,” Yao said. He unlocked his doors, and waved Alfred inside. The first room was a sitting room, and beyond it Alfred knew was a bedroom and bathroom, but for now he settled on sprawling out on the couch, and Yao came to drape himself across him.

“You should tell your family,” Yao said after a few moments of them just kissing.

“Are you going to tell yours?” Alfred asked. He was aware that Yao had family _somewhere_ out there but hadn’t met them yet.

“Oh, yes. Yes, I will. And then they will descend upon us and make our lives a living hell.”

“I’ll call mines while you call yours?”

Yao kissed him once more. “Okay.”

They separated. Yao went to sit on the armchair, and Alfred stayed on the couch. He called the lesser of all the evils at his house first.

“Ah, Alfred? Isn’t it really late over there? Is something wrong?”

“Hey, Angie, are you free to video call? Can you also find Matthew?”

“Mhm, sure! Gimme a second. I’ll call you back, okay?”

A few moments passed and then his sister and brother showed up on his screen. He gave them a few moments to take in the collar around his neck before shrugging at their cries of _WHAT?!_.

“So,” Alfred said. “I just got married.”

“And you didn’t even introduce us to him?” Matthew said as Angie held her hands over her mouth. “Who is it?”

Alfred met Yao’s eyes over the top of his phone, and a soft smile came to his lips. “My boss.”

“Oh my god, my brother just married a triad boss?!” Matthew shook his head, and looked at Angie. “Angelique, are you still breathing?”

“But,” Angie uncovered her mouth, “I was supposed to be in your wedding party! I had the colors picked out and everything!”

Alfred shrugged. “That’s fine. We’re probably going to have to repeat our vows in front of both our families anyway…”

“Wait, he’s not a werewolf?” Angie asked.

“No, he’s a vampire.” Matthew and Angie took that news better than he thought they would, so he hoped the same would be true of his parents.

“Have you told Dad yet? Or Papa?” Angie asked.

“I mean… they knew I was working for him…”

“Alfred Francis, that is ten thousand times different from _marrying_ your boss,” Angie scolded him. “Make sure to tell them as soon as possible!”  

Yao got off his phone call, so Alfred smiled and promised that he would before getting off his as well.

Yao came over and took his hand, and rested his head on Alfred’s shoulder.

“Do you want to know how vampires mate?”

“You said for life, right?”

“Mhm, blood exchanged from one body to another to seal the bond.”

“That sounds like magic.”

“That’s because it is.”

* * *

 

Yao told him a story. After he told him the story, he said it was okay if Alfred wanted to leave him. Alfred told him not to be silly, and to show him his room.

* * *

 

“You asked me if I had other werewolf lovers, because you want to know if I’d understand the significance of you kneeling for me, right? To understand that ultimate action of how far gone you were for me.

“Alfred, in this world… for me… there has only always been _you_. Vampires aren’t supposed to mate with non-vampires, because while we are immortal, our other brethren are not. Do you know what it does to a vampire who loses their mate? They end up killing themselves. Cutting short that immortal life of theirs because how can one bear to live without the other half of their heart?

“Alfred, you can pretend this is a story if you want. How do those stories start…

“Once upon a time, there was a Vampire King. His people were at war with the werewolves that lived in the forest beyond his lands. The war was unwinnable. For as immortal as the vampires were, the wolves had numbers greater than they could ever match. In order to stop the war, they formed an alliance, one that couldn’t be broken.

“The Vampire King took a werewolf Princeling as his mate. The war ended, and peace was in the land. Werewolves live for a ridiculously long time, so no one ever thought about what would happen when that life came to an end. They just wanted the war to end.

“The Vampire King never planned for it either, but during those many, many years of the werewolf’s life, they fell in love. And then on his deathbed, with his dying breath, the werewolf made the vampire a promise.

“‘I’ll come back for you,’ he said. ‘So don’t you dare die before then!’ He said that with a fierce look on his face, and then he died.

“The Vampire King believed his lover and so he waited, and waited, and waited. Humanity grew and overtook the monsters who had inhabited the world for so long before them, and would inherit it after they left, and still he waited. When he was visiting his lover’s grave, scolding him for letting him wait for so long, he ran into a werewolf who was visiting his grandmother’s grave.

“Vampires, they can _always_ recognize their mate without fail. It was faint, but it was there. That bond that he had formed with his Prince was in this baby of a wolf. He decided to ignore the brat, but without fail, like a moth to flame, that brat kept on popping up again and again.

“The Vampire King questioned the boy of course, but he didn’t remember any of it. None of what they had shared. He told the boy to leave him alone, but the boy didn’t want to. He told him in no uncertain terms that they were meant to be. ‘You’re mine,’ he said.

“So the King relented, they got married, and they lived together for a very long time, until this wolf too, this Prince reborn came to his deathbed. ‘I’m going to find you again,’ he said, ‘Without a doubt.’

“And so he did. Again and again, and again and again, he did.

“Oh, are you crying? Oh geeze, don’t cry. C’mon, you always do that.”

* * *

 

“You look happy,” Ludwig said at his wedding reception. “I’m very happy for you.”

“Did you come with Feliciano like I told you to?” Alfred asked, he dug his elbow into Ludwig’s side until the ghoul winced.

“Yes, I did!”

“Good,” Alfred said. “No matter what happens in the future, remember how happy you were when he said ‘yes,’ okay?”

Ludwig looked at his brother paling around with Feliciano and smiled. “I’ll remember it.”

Alfred made his rounds, thanking everyone for coming while Yao did the same. They finally managed an escape outside of the hotel and into its garden.

“You really pulled no punches with this, huh?” Alfred asked as he looked at the floating lanterns in the trees and bushes.

“Francis insisted that he had to pay for everything though I managed to talk him down to half of everything — Oh and let’s not forget how your sister got involved, and that’s how it turned into _this_.” Yao sounded like he was complaining but he kept on smiling, so Alfred just kissed him, pressing him against the trunk of a tree as he did so. “My suit is white, pup.” Yao said with a laugh, “Are you trying to make people talk?”

“You _like_ my family.”

“Well, duh,” Yao said, “Why wouldn’t I? They love you, and I love you, and so… of course I’d come to like them.”

Alfred laughed, “I like your family too, even though they’re all very scary. And older than me, and know about the old mes and can judge me for past mistakes. Leon reminded me of that time I apparently freed all his dogs, and I was just like ‘that wasn’t me’ and he’s like ‘wasn’t it?’ Like how do I even respond to that?”

“He’s just teasing you, probably.” Yao’s hands are in his hair, pressing against his ears, and he loves that. He loves this man, and couldn’t ever imagine not loving him. “You look so nice like this,” Yao said with a sigh, fingers curling around the gold buckle on his neck.

“Did you _hear_ what Gilbert said he bought us?”

“Do I want to know?” Yao asked. “Is the knowledge going to make me — ”

“A leash,” Alfred said, and Yao’s eyes darkened and he shook his head. “You’re so dirty-minded, Yao!”

“Am I? What am I thinking, pup?”

“I don’t know,” Alfred said. “But I’m one hundred percent sure it’s something lewd, and that we should hurry through the rest of the evening so we can go explore those thoughts. I am all about exploring after all.”

“You know they’re not going to let us go that freely.”

“We’re newlyweds, they have to!”

Yao laughed at him. “We’ve been married for like six months now, I think we’ve worn that phrase out.”

“I’m going to wear _you_ out.”

“So you think, pup, so you think.” Alfred found himself pressed against the tree, Yao’s teeth to his throat, and then a hand cupped him through his pants before moving away. “Alright, time to go be polite and _share_ you with the commoners.”

“Oh, come _on._ ”

“Mhm, maybe I should start teaching you how to ask for things politely.”

“Five minutes in the bathroom because you only live once?”

“I don’t know whether to be offended or amazed at what you just said. I’m going to chose to ignore it, and head back to our wedding reception.” Yao paused when he realized Alfred wasn’t following him. He turned around and held out his hand. “Are you coming, Alfred?”

Alfred looked at him, and then ran to grab his hand. “We’re only staying for another hour, and then we’re going to our room.”

He just growled when Yao laughed.

 _No matter what,_ Alfred thought, _I’m never letting go of this hand for too long_.

Werewolves mate for life too, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Writing this I realized I left quite a few things...unexplained lol that I explained in my head. 
> 
> I'm 80% sure that Matthew married Lars (Netherlands) or something like that...! Either that or he married Ukraine/Belgium. He's the oldest brother and the 'heir'! 
> 
> Sadik is a djinn. They don't live as long as vampires in this verse, but they live fairly long. He's been around Yao long enough to have met one or two of Alfred's past lives! There's a story here, but I'm sure that Sadik likes Alfred. 
> 
> Ivan is a young giant, so he'll grow taller probably. 
> 
> Originally India was going to be the one who kidnapped Alfred and he and Yao were going to have a fierce battle but I thought to myself 'I can't do that' so I changed it. India would've been another vampire seeking to gain control of the city.
> 
> Ivan was supposed to be plotting against Yao in this fic but that got discarded. 
> 
> The gold buckle on Alfred's collar is from his original life's collar. 
> 
> Yao didn't recognize Alfred at first, but felt something towards him and was monitoring his behaviors ESPECIALLY since he was beating up Yao's men. It wasn't until he went to kill him after Alfred attacked him that he was like 'oh this is the bae.' So he bit off the collar around Alfred's neck instead because he was fucking PISSED that someone else dared to collar what belongs to him. 
> 
> Yao tries really, really hard not to rush to find Alfred when he reincarnates because he always thinks 'This will be the time when he rejects me.' 
> 
> Alfred has reincarnated about 20 times so far. Werewolves live really long lives. (I did actual math to figure this out fucking praise me.)
> 
> Alfred, always, without fail cries when Yao reveals the fact that he's his reincarnated lover. 
> 
> (Inside joke time: there is an elephant in the room that needs addressing.)
> 
> I just realized I wrote Alfred topping Yao twice in a row? What the fuck? 
> 
> Speaking of sex, this was supposed to be a PWP called 'How to Tame Your Werewolf Boyfriend' with a step-by-step guide on how Yao 'manages' Alfred. It was also supposed to be like 2K. I might still write that someday...
> 
> This fic, this fucking fic, right here proves that I cannot write PWP. 
> 
> That leash def gets put to work. And I blame IZZY for including it in her drawing when I said I was fucking joking. 
> 
> The werewolf marriage ceremony is my favorite thing I wrote about. Each partner is supposed to kneel in front of the other and make their vows. At the end they collar each other. For marriages between outsiders this gets changed into what we saw in the fic. The werewolf partner is collared and the non-werewolf wears a bracelet instead. This is because wearing a collar, someone else's collar, is a werewolf only thing and it'd be weird if a non wolf wore one? 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading. Comments and Kudos are love.


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